Thinker

Celtic Bayou Take Hwy 520 to the West Lake Sammamish Parkway exit. Exit and turn left, drive under 520, and continue on for about 2 blocks and turn left into the first strip mall you come to. Parking can be a bitch there. there's more parking in a small lot (the second left) if the main lot is full.

- your car doesn't have a head liner in it, and it doesn't matter because the skis, pickets, poles, and axes would just rip it out again.

civilization to Marcus: spokane airport to colville - 1.5 hours Colville to Marcus: .5 hours approach: 20 min well bolted, yyyyyeessss, beautiful limestone. be happy to pass around the guidebook at pube club sometime. workin over here in Colville.....

Hey, I found a Unimog for sale while sallying about the country. It currently resides in Coeur d'Alene. I'm not in a position to buy it, but a recent thread indicated that there was some interest in such a beast. Will post details when I find them again in my pigsty of a roadtrippin' machine. DFA...check out the climbing at Marcus, WA when you get a chance.

I'm outta here...see you in a few weeks.... who the smuck cares? obviously you if you opened this thread.... later

Does anyone else see the irony in the meaning of the words/avatar "Terminal Gravity" and the subject of this thread?

quote: Originally posted by Dr Flash Amazing: Looks like a big, jingus slab. You could probably mountain bike down it. And it must be windy, 'cause those two people are behind some sort of white shelter or something. Some of the steeper parts look like they could be fun. And you of all people, DFA, should appreciate the value of maintaining the secret identity of the superheros in our midst...

quote: Originally posted by Dru: Its in Renton. I looked for the one in Renton once...won't catch me back there again soon.

granite slab? A coworker showed me this pic and said it was taken while on a hike around Blewett/Swauk Pass area. Any idea what it is and if it has established routes? [ 09-26-2002, 03:40 PM: Message edited by: Thinker ]

quote: Originally posted by Anna: Oh my, I go weak in the knees for floatplanes!!!.... One of my non-climbing highlights this year was a flight in a 1938 Grumman Goose amphibious plane. We left the Dutch Harbor, AK runway and landed in Akutan Harbor. The pilot cranked the landing gear down and then powered up a boat ramp right into the village......awesome! I was asked to sit in the (absent) co-pilot's seat for proper weight distribution....twist my arm. I'd flown with that same pilot last year on a kinda hairy flight to Atka, AK. Alaska rocks!

and a good day to you too, sir. may our future interactions be met with caution and optimism.

darned double posts..........

quote: Originally posted by Dwayner: P.S. Forward my responses above to your buddies as well, if you like. not necessary, they're all tuned in to this thread already.

[ 09-24-2002, 11:39 AM: Message edited by: Thinker ]

quote: Originally posted by Dwayner: I teach a mountaineering class every fall for a select group of fine students. My favored venue of choice for initial instruction on rock in Leavenworth is "Beginner's Buttress" (also called "Mountaineer's" or "Mounties" buttress by the group that often covers it like flies and would probably like to call it their own.) It's a superb beginner's crag with a good number of climbs, cracks for demonstrating gear placement, etc. I usually arrive early to beat the Mountaineer crowds but I never try to take over the area, I do share with other groups who want to climb nearby, and I leave when I'm through. So, I show up with my happy group about 7:30 AM and notice two people up on the crag orchestrating a festoon, draping ropes over the upper and lower buttress. We are barely out of our cars when someone up above yells down, "we have a class!" Well, so what, so did I. We proceded toward the trail where I was quickly greeted by a red-headed interceptor who informed me that the Washington Alpine Club was there today with a class of eight people and that we should find another place to climb. And I informed her that I too had a class, it was a big buttress, and the monopolization of the area was akin to the Mountaineers unsavory tactic. (I recall the time when I showed up one Saturday and the Mountaineers told me that I should go elsewhere because they were climbing there THE ENTIRE WEEKEND. Needless to say, I was there an hour before them on Sunday and they were shocked that someone else was on "their" crag. We did our business and left and it seemed as if 50 Mounties came scrambling out of the bushes before our ropes were even coiled!) The red-headed interceptor told me that maybe I should go to to Roto-Wall or some other venue. Roto-Wall sucks and besides, there is plenty of room for two small groups on this, the best beginner's crag in the area; they were there for the same reason I was. Ironically, she admitted that they too got up early to beat the likes of the Mountaineers. I emphasised the point that monopolizing a crag was inappropriate and she finally offered "to let me have" the lower buttress and she told her buddy to halt the festoon of the lower rock. This monopoly thing is ridiculous. Should I take a small class up to Castle Rock, for example, throw ropes all over the easiest climbs because we might want to climb it sometime during the day and then suggest that maybe you should go climb on Rattlesnake? I heard that the Washington Alpine Club likes to perceive itself as a cooler, less formal, less crowded alternative to the Mountaineers. By the attitude I experienced on Saturday, they could have been one and the same. And by the way...that class of 8 story was a bunch of nonsense...we counted AT LEAST 14 people in their group. I took my students up a climb on the lower buttress, proceeded up the hill way above the WAC's, did more climbing, and went on to Peshastin. There was plenty of room and no interference. The next day, Sunday, we didn't bother going back to Beginner's Buttress...I could imagine these people dropping ropes on the crag at dusk on Saturday night and then camping out on the big ledge midway (I'm sure they're not that desperate, though. I wasn't in the mood for further confrontation and I don't like to have my students driving up and down the canyon looking for unoccupied second-choice areas. So...WAC...you looked well-organized, and it looked like you were having fun....but your attitude was NOT COOL. You did, however, "share" the rock (albeit after some argument) and it didn't seem to interfere with anything and most importantly, two nice groups of students had a lovely time. Dwayner, I arrived at the top of the lower butt (on the big ledge btwn lower and middle) as our rope was being pulled to make room for you. I missed your exchange with Red but was witness to the rest, i.e. the two groups accomplishing their goals of safely instructing a number of students. So, no, we didn't speak to each other that day, but we likely saw each other. I find it ironic that your whole initial post was written in such an inflamatory style, with the exception of the last two sentences. For having such a 'lovely time' you sure took the liberty to insinuate that we were planning to monopolize the rock for the 'ENTIRE WEEKEND', conjuring up the image of a group monopolizing Castle Rock (which is clearly in a different class than Mounties Butt), and imagining "these people dropping ropes on the crag at dusk on Saturday night and then camping out on the big ledge midway". If that's not inflamatory, I don't know what is. I'm glad you made your points, but please don't pull out the integrity flag now; your integrity suffered irreparably when you included so much inflamatory language and the spurious insuations when you originally made those points.....that's how I see it.

yep, one of our group made the drive to 11worth to pick up some coffee for the group. Mounties Butt is kinda like car camping, you can bring along all the luxuries you could ever want.

quote: Originally posted by Pete Staples: on Saturday the 23rd of Sept. when? the 23rd was a Monday, yesterday I believe.... [ 09-24-2002, 10:29 AM: Message edited by: Thinker ]

I originally learned to climb at Palisades State Park in South Dakota. There were numerous climbs on King and Queen rock that one had to lower down to the water to for the start. Jumping off the top of the rock into the water was a strictly enforced misdemeanor offense, however, climbing and falling back into the water was a different story. The drop from the top of King rock was at least 50 feet if I remember correctly.

I'm going to weigh in here, too, now that everybody has had their say. I am one of the WAC instructors that was there on Saturday (not one of the organizers, just one of the gumby instructors that day). I arrived a few minutes late, and thus missed the conversation that 'Red' had with 'Dwayner', so I can't really speak to the tone of the exchage....and I won't. What I will say, is that we had 3 ropes set on the middle buttress for lead climbing instruction...not too unreasonable for a group of 8 students. (Does that qualify as 'festooned'?) The class format that day involved a student climbing on toprope, placing gear, trailing a mock lead rope, and then simulrapping with an 'instructor' to analyze gear placements. Obviously only 3 students could climb at any given time (3 ropes). The remainder of the students were practicing anchor construction around the corner in some boulders, with several more instructors. (Does that qualify as a monopoly?) As noted in my earlier post, a reasonable compromise seemed to have been achieved. Dwayner expressed his need to share the rock, the WAC pulled a rope on the lower buttress (the only rope on that buttress) and made room for his small group. I don't see the problem. After Dwayner's group did their thing and left, numerous other climbers made their way up the hill and climbed without any problem. On Sunday the WAC moved to the much maligned Rotowall and practiced self-rescue and multipitch anchor scenarios. As someone else noted in a trip report yesterday, Mounties Dome was deserted all day Sunday. Staging the 2nd day of our class at Rotowall had been our plan for several days prior to the weekend. I know for a fact that a number of WACers have read this thread, so rest assured it's been given some attention. I also emailed your original post to 'Red'. Dwayner, I'm sorry you got your feelings hurt by that mean girl. I'm glad you accomplished your objectives that day. Thanks for the complement on our being organized and having fun, we pride ourselves on just that. However, in my strictly personal opinion, I think you may have exaggerated a few of the items in your initial post and thus whipped up a bit of a stir here. Also, in my strictly personal opinion, I really wonder how receptive you'd have been to another group horning in on your prized spot on the Mounties Butt if you had gotten up an hour earlier and arrived first. btw, how many students and instructors were in your group? [ 09-24-2002, 10:32 AM: Message edited by: Thinker ]

sounds like the two groups did a little spontaneous negotiation and everybody got their goals accomplished. [ 09-23-2002, 12:21 PM: Message edited by: Thinker ]

quote: Originally posted by Dru: Then he decided to see if driving at 80km/h over waterbars would "smooth the bumps out", nope it just wrecks your shox. I did that recently and knocked my muffler silly, trashed a shock bushing that was already somewhat aggravated, and gave the death kiss to a motor mount. all back in order now and ready for another thrashing....

uh.......OK I just thought I might have had a Cavey sighting there this weekend without knowing it.

KOMO news story

quote: Originally posted by Cpt.Caveman: Then I climbed Mountaineers Doom. Sat or Sun?

quote: Originally posted by Dr Flash Amazing: So you wanna buy the bike, or what? not really, I just dumped a grand into my super-auto, feeling kinda poor right now. I gotta stop jumping those big humps on those forest service roads at Darrington in my sexy Scandinavian car...trashed the muffler and motor mounts. can't blame the clutch on the 'off roading', though.